


I Need You

by snapbackbuddies



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gavin Reed Needs a Hug, Gavin Reed's Past, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 20:45:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16730322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snapbackbuddies/pseuds/snapbackbuddies
Summary: When Gavin's in trouble, RK is there for him.





	I Need You

"Hey! Hey, hold on, don't– just–" Gavin shouts into the phone, and drops his head to his palm, clenching his fingers into his hair and tugging. He glances at RK, then drops his voice. "Don't do that just yet. Please. I just need another week, just one more–"

The other person on the line must hang up, because Gavin bites out a " _Fuck!_ " and slams his phone onto the table with a snarl. 

RK stays quiet. He tracks Gavin with his piercing gaze, and Gavin's skin crawls. He knows the damn android is watching him without having to look. Eyes scraping him up and down, making him feel raw. Exposed. "What the fuck are you looking at?" Gavin snaps, a growl rumbling beneath his words. "I don't need your robo-eyes scanning me and invading my fuckin' privacy."

"Sorry," RK says after a moment, closing off to that cold, inhuman way he used to be before Gavin got to know him a little better. "I'll… get you some water."

"No, don't bother," Gavin says, dropping his face into his hands. "They shut off my water a week ago," he mutters, quieter, but RK catches it anyway.

"You don't have water?" RK says sharply, whirling back around to face Gavin. 

Gavin scrunches his head closer to his shoulders, both hands buried in his hair. "And if I don't have my rent by tomorrow night, I'm gone. Evicted. Fuck." He yanks at his hair, slamming a knee up into the table and knocking the salt and pepper over. " _Fuck!_ Fucking hell, what the fuck am I gonna do? Where am I gonna go?" Gavin's voice is tight and thin, tears springing to his eyes.

"Gavin, I don't understand. What happened to your money? Your paychecks, how did this happen?" 

Gavin runs a hand through his hair again. Tears are nearly overflowing in his eyes, his jaw clenched. "I– nothin'. It's nothing, tin can. Just some unexpected expenses."

"For months?" RK implores, taking a step towards Gavin sitting at the table. "How long have you been unable to pay rent, utilities? Buy groceries?"

RK startles when Gavin slams a hand on the tabletop. "Shut _up_ , RK!" he shouts. He's trembling. "There's nothing I can fucking do! Nothing, I– I'm _stuck_! And I'm gonna be on my ass with nowhere to go and then–" Gavin chokes down a swallow. "Oh, Jesus Christ. I can't do this again."

There's a moment of stillness, where RK's eyebrows tighten and his mouth parts in confusion. Gavin is attempting to pull his hair out. 

Then there's a knock at the door. Gavin's head flies up, eyes wide and close to dripping tears. RK spins around. "RK," he whimpers.

RK doesn't question him. He can catch on. He's a smart android.

He creeps towards the door. "It's okay, Gavin," RK says, reaching a hand to the doorknob and twisting slowly.

Time slows down. He scans the three men at the door, a smaller one up front and two large, muscular men behind him. _Evan Moore, 37. Criminal Record: Possession and sale of narcotics and opioids. Aggravated assault. Resisting arrest._ RK flicks his eyes over the other two and dismisses them as unimportant. They're just the muscle for this Evan asshole and whatever operation he's running.

"What can I do for you gent–"

"Where's Gavin Reed, you fuckin' plastic bitch?" Evan interrupts, stepping forward to push RK back. "I'm here to collect my dues." RK tilts his head, his LED spinning yellow quickly. He widens his stance. "Well? Get the fuck out of my way before I send you to the scrapyard."

"Leave him alone, asshole, okay," Gavin calls from the kitchen, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Wiping away any traces of tears. Beneath the tiredness, RK can still detect a thickness to Gavin's voice that a human can't. "I don't have money to give you, Evan. This isn't fucking high school anymore, man, I've got rent to pay."

"I don't give a fuck what you've got to pay, Gavin," Evan says, pushing RK aside to step into the apartment. RK bristles but continues to watch from aside, silent. Deadly. Ready to strike. "You owe me, remember? You pay me, and I don't fuck up the people you care about." He throws a glance back at RK. "Like that hunk of plastic, yeah?"

Gavin still hasn't looked up. "I said I don't have any money to give you."

“Then I’ll take something better than that.”

Gavin looks up sharply. The vulnerability from before is gone, hidden under a steel gaze and apathy, but RK can tell its nothing more than a mask. A one-way mirror. "You better stop fucking threatening me and the people I care about. You been pushing me around since I was 16. I'm sick of it." Gavin's heart rate is elevated, and a very slight tremor shakes his voice. "You stay the fuck away from me, and you stay the fuck away from that android."

Evan sneers, and takes a step towards Gavin. He's almost graceful, in the sense that he's sure he has nothing to fear. RK's LED has been steady yellow for nearly a full minute now. _Six reliable escape routes, eighteen ways to take down the intruders, fourteen scenarios in which Gavin will emerge with no grave injuries..._ Gavin catches his eye. His eyes scream to stay calm. "Took me years to track you down again, Gav. And you owe me for those years I lost, yeah? So either you pay up, or this tin can belongs to me."

"Don't call him that," Gavin snaps. Anger is starting to build in his shoulders. RK's fingers twitch at his sides. _34% chance of escaping uninjured. 78% chance of escaping._ "And get the fuck out of my house."

Evan lunges. RK is faster.

RK snatches his wrist and squeezes tightly, bending his arm back with a cuss from Evan, and Gavin stands up so fast the chair falls back behind him. "Careful, Nines, behind you–"

_70% chance of escape._

With a crack, he slams his head forwards into Evan and watches him crumple with sick joy. He spins quickly to intercept the other two men, but they catch him off guard. One on either side of him holds his arm in a vice grip and yanks his arms back behind him until his shoulders whir from the strain. He groans, attempting to pull free, and something in his right shoulder tears.

Gavin springs from behind and launches himself onto the man on his right with a snarl. _83% chance of injury to Gavin. 18% percent risk of death._ The man falls off his arm with a thunk and Gavin gasps.

RK pre-constructs an attack in 1.02 seconds and swiftly turns on the ball of his foot to jam his elbow into the man on his left, nailing him just under the ribs. He bends forward, gasping, and RK brings his knee forward into his face and throws him to the side as he crumples. When he's finished with him, he turns to the man on his right and kicks him off of Gavin. He snarls down at him, on his back, and delivers a harsh kick to the jaw that leaves him unconscious. 

The whole ordeal is over in moments. He turns quickly to make sure Gavin's alright.

Gavin is sitting slumped on the floor, chest heaving, a bruise blooming on his cheek. He doesn't move. "Gavin," RK prompts softly after a few moments. "Gavin, I feel as though you would prefer to leave now. I've alerted the authorities, and a DPD dispatch is on it's way. Let's go."

"I have nowhere to go," Gavin intones. He thinks briefly of Eli and tosses the thought away. "I have nowhere to go."

"You can come home with me," RK says, very softly. "It'll be okay." Gavin's eyes sway up to him listlessly. He swallows, eyes shiny, and his eyebrows twitch. He shakes his head a little, but stops after a moment, and nods.

"Okay," he rasps.

"Good?"

"Yeah. Good."

–– 

RK lives on his own in an android-specific apartment, which means all it's got is a couch, a desk, a dresser, and a bookshelf, filled with odd trinkets, and bags of blue blood and spare biocomponents in the drawers beneath the shelves. The desk has neatly organized stacks of papers and a laptop, and next to that an air plant in a delicate glass bowl– a gift from Connor. He thinks it's important to care for other living things, to feel for them, and to feel important because you take care of them. A little note had been attached to it, too, that said " _Some plants don't need soil, some people don't need food._ "

RK had snorted and rolled his eyes, but the note was folded carefully and put for safekeeping in one of the drawers of his desk.

"You can sleep on the couch tonight, if you want. I'm afraid I don't have anything else to offer you," he says softly as he opens the door to his apartment. Gavin has followed him obediently from the car to the door, absolutely silent. He hasn't said a damn thing, and it's throwing RK off. Gavin is normally so talkative, so loud. "I'm sure I can find a blanket or a pillow somewhere."

Gavin has stopped in the doorway, face… sad, almost. Softer than RK expects. "You... " his eyes drift over the apartment in something like shock. "You live in a one-room apartment?"

"It's an android apartment," RK says. "I don't sleep, eat, or use the bathroom. I have no need for anything except a desk, for work."

"Don't you ever get claustrophobic?" Gavin asks, eyes darting everywhere except RK. "Or… or lonely? What if you want a minute to yourself, and to lie down, or something?"

"I guess that's what I have the couch for." Gavin visibly swallows, then nods. RK shifts his feet nervously, then ushers Gavin into his apartment. "I… I wish I could offer you a shower, or a glass of water, but…"

Gavin shakes his head, and hovers for a moment before sitting gingerly on RK's couch. "It's okay. Thanks, RK."

He's never said that to RK before. He's never thanked him before.

RK freezes for a second. "You're welcome, Gavin."

RK does end up finding Gavin a blanket, and he has two throw pillows on the couch, which will have to make do. He sets Gavin up a place to sleep while Gavin changes into a soft t-shirt and the one pair of sweats RK owns in the corner of the room that RK has his back turned to. "I'm sorry I'm so unprepared for this," he says without turning around. "I think there's a bathroom in the lobby, if you need to use it."

"Okay," Gavin says, and RK can hear the shiver in his voice. RK turns to glance at him, and he's hugging himself, fingers digging into his biceps. 

"Are you cold?" RK asks, eyebrows pushing together as he stands. 

"A little."

Shit, right. RK didn't pay for heating. Androids don't get cold.

"I have a sweater you can borrow," RK says. "In that drawer there, if you want it. It's made of a cotton-blend, it should keep you warm–"

"RK," Gavin interrupts. "Can we just…" He stops, and comes to sit next to RK on his temporary bed. "I just want a quiet minute. I need a quiet minute." 

RK watches the side of Gavin's face for a moment. "A lot has happened," he comments. "Are you alright?" They're sitting inches apart. The bruise on Gavin's cheek has gone purple and blue, but RK doesn't mention it. There's nothing he can do, and he's not sure Gavin would appreciate him touching it. Gavin shrugs a little, and says nothing, so RK scoots a little closer to him. "You can talk to me, Gavin."

Gavin scoffs. He either doesn't notice that RK has moved closer, or he doesn't mind. He takes the edge of the checkered blanket he's sitting on and pulls it over his lap, picking at a tangle in the tassels at the end. It's quite endearing. "There's nothing to fuckin' say," he says, rubbing his eyes. "Evan has been tied up with drugs and illegal shit since we were in high school, and he roped me into it. I managed to get out when I moved out for college, but." Gavin swallows. His heart rate has elevated slightly. "He found me again a few months ago. Kept threatening my family, Tina, Chris, Hank…" Gavin shrugs again and shakes his head, lowering his forehead to his palm. "He asked for money, and I gave it to him."

"Why didn't you tell someone?" RK implores. "You work at the DPD, you know that he could have been arrested for much less, especially with his record. It wouldn't have been out of question."

"Because I was scared!" Gavin snaps, suddenly turning to glare at RK. "I know that's irrational, and I know it's something you–" he cuts himself off, and breathes out, long and slow. "I was fucking scared, alright? He's been pushing me around since I was 16 and I'm still scared of him. So I gave him my money, and I played along, pretended I was protecting the people I care about."

"You were," RK says, his voice low. "You were protecting them. It was just a bad situation. That's all." 

Gavin looks him over once, and RK realizes just how close they are leaned together as their shoulders brush. "I'm a coward," he mutters. "And I've been a huge asshole. To you, to Connor, to Hank." He sighs, and runs a hand through his hair until it sticks up where it's not supposed to. 

RK stands, grabs the sweater, and brings it back to Gavin. Plops it in his lap. "You're not a coward," he says, staring Gavin down until he puts the sweater on. It softens him around the edges, takes away the harshness of his stubble, and he… he looks good. "You're human. And you're a good man, Gavin Reed, beneath all the prickliness."

Unbelievably, Gavin laughs. He's looking at RK like he can't quite believe he's serious. "You're somethin' else, tin can."

"Maybe." RK tries to smother a smile and fails, the corners of his mouth twitching inexorably up as if tugged by string. After a moment of admiring Gavin's smile and crinkly eyes, he stands from the couch and fluffs one of his couch pillows again. "Come on, it's getting late. You should get some rest."

Gavin scoots up and slides under the blanket properly, but he doesn't lie down yet. "What are you even going to do while I sleep?"

RK looks at him funny. "What I do every night? I'm just going to get some work done, over there," RK says, nodding towards his desk. "I'll keep occupied, don't worry."

A car hums by outside. Gavin's eyebrows tighten, and his mouth twists.

"You should lie here with me," he blurts.

RK blinks. "You want me to lie with you?"

Gavin opens his mouth, and shuts it again. "If you want. I thought maybe you might want to… I mean, I know that I would like it if you…" he shakes his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "Oh, God, just ignore me, alright? You get your work done. Thanks for the sweater."

RK stares at him. His LED goes yellow for the first time since he stepped into the apartment. "Okay, move over. It's gonna be a tight squeeze. The couch isn't that big."

So Gavin scoots back, and RK slides in in front of him, nestling Gavin between the back of the couch and his body. That way, if Gavin moves around in the night, he won't fall off. RK can stay up and hold him in place. 

Gavin's face is very close to his, and they make eye contact for several seconds before Gavin ducks his head and hides his face in the collar of his borrowed sweater. RK drapes an arm over him cautiously. They're quiet for minutes and minutes, and if RK didn't have a read on Gavin's breathing and brain activity, he might think he was sleeping.

"Gavin?" His voice is very quiet. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot." Gavin is tired. His voice crackles and breaks.

"At your apartment, you said you 'couldn't do this again,' when you said you were going to be evicted. Couldn't do what?"

Gavin tenses in his arms, and rolls his upper body away from RK in discomfort. "It's nothing, RK, alright? A lot was happening. It doesn't mean anything."

RK curls and uncurls his fingers into the blanket draped over Gavin. "No. You've had to deal with this before. You said you went to high school with Evan, and he's threatened you before, hasn't he? He left you with nowhere to go?"

Gavin lashes out, shoving at RK. It's not hard enough to push him off the couch, but RK's eyes widen in surprise, and he reaches up to snatch Gavin's wrist in his hand, to keep him from pushing any harder. "Shut up, RK, I don't want to fucking talk about it!" he snaps, trying to twist out of from RK's grasp. 

"I'm sorry!" RK shouts, wrestling to keep Gavin's arms close to his chest so RK doesn't fall off the couch. "Just– stay, okay? I'm sorry, we don't have to talk about it. I'm sorry."

After fighting for a couple moments, face relaxing from the way it was scrunched with anger, he finally stops, staring up wide-eyed at RK. "Okay." RK doesn't let go yet, but he loosens his grip. The skin around his fingers fluctuates but doesn't deactivate entirely. "I'm tired, okay? Let's just... sleep. Let's just sleep."

RK lets him go, and sets a tentative hand on his shoulder instead. "Yes, you should get some rest. I'll…" RK swallows, and instead of looking at Gavin he fixes the blanket, pulls it up so it's more entirely over Gavin. "You get some rest."

Gavin watches. Then he leans back into RK. "Okay." He tucks his face where RK had pressed him close before, his chin hidden in the collar of his sweater and forehead pressed against where RK's pulse would be, if he had one. RK hesitates, then readjusts so the length of his body follows Gavin's, their chests all the way down to their thighs pressed together. His LED is yellow again and for some reason he's glad that Gavin can't see it. "G'night, RK."

"Goodnight, Gavin."

Gavin falls asleep shortly, and RK doesn't do much else beside monitor his vitals for quite some time, content to watch his brain waves fluctuate as he dreams and feel his eyelashes flutter against the skin of his throat, and the slow, even rush of breath that stirs their hair. Gavin smells like warmth and sleep and his cologne, something like leather and smoke, and it's so pleasant RK can't catch himself before burying his nose into Gavin's hair.

He meant to do some work, to connect with his computer from the couch, but he falls into sleep mode with his nose still in Gavin's hair, and his hand smushed between their chests so he can feel Gavin breathing, feel Gavin's heartbeat. The rise and fall of his chest is what lulls him to sleep, in the end.

They jolt awake together a few hours later, just before five in the morning, Gavin's heart racing under his palm and RK's LED spinning scarlet. “What?” RK says quickly, scrambling to pull Gavin into his chest and then rolling himself on top of Gavin. He strains his auditory sensors to the highest sensitivity setting, listening desperately for an intruder. It’s not unlikely that Evan Moore would come after Gavin. That he followed them to RK's apartment. “What is it?”

“RK!” Gavin protests, muffled, pushing at RK’s chest where he can. “RK, it’s fine! There’s nothing, I just got scared awake by the plow outside, that’s all!”

A piece of machinery whirs outside, and the sound of metal scraping against the street.

RK feels an odd flutter of joy in the back of his mind. If there's a plow, it snowed overnight. RK has only ever seen snow once before.

"Oh," he says, and belatedly pulls himself off Gavin, settling against Gavin's side again. "Of course. Just the plow." Gavin's heart is still racing, and RK still has a circle of red at his temple. He can't stop thinking about what could have been happening. What he assumed was happening. "I thought…"

"You rolled over me. You tried to protect me." Gavin is staring. 

"You should go back to sleep."

Gavin's eyes flick quickly between RK's. “I’ll have to get up in two hours anyways. I’ll stay up.”

“You’ve only gotten three hours of sleep,” RK says softly, rubbing Gavin's arm up and down slowly. "You should rest."

"I don't want to go back to sleep. I'm not going back to sleep."

RK cuddles in a little closer, sensing the nervousness in Gavin's voice. He's on edge. Shaken up from something, and his heart rate still hasn't returned to a normal level, although it has slowed. "Okay."

–– 

"You have to give your statement," RK says as they walk into work the next morning. Gavin doesn't answer, heading for his desk with single-minded focus. RK watches Gavin out of the corner of his eye as he drapes his coat over the back of his desk chair. "Hank is in charge of the investigation. He's interrogating Evan Moore this morning."

"I'll give him my damn statement," Gavin mutters, tossing his bag to the floor. He glances up at Hank's desk to find it empty, but his coat hung over the back of the chair. "Looks like he's already in the interrogation room, so let's just go."

When they enter the viewing room, Hank is just sitting down in the chair opposite of Evan Moore. Chris and Tina are there already, watching silently. They both smile carefully at Gavin as they walk in, and Gavin darts his eyes away instantly.

Evan Moore is a twitchy man. It seems impossible for him to sit still, and though his eyes are bloodshot, it doesn't diminish the intimidating aura of the way he holds himself and stares straight through Hank, who is fairly intimidating himself. He's not afraid of the people around him because he knows he has the power to hurt them. Like he hurt Gavin.

"How long have you known Gavin Reed?" Hank asks, leaning forward on his elbows to stare at Evan with tired eyes, hiding thinly veiled disgust. Criminals who target police officers on their force aren't the most well-liked, even if Hank and Gavin don't get along very well. Hank very secretly has a big heart, Connor tells him. If you look close enough, it's not hard to see. Hank is a good man, just like Gavin.

"I've known the fucker since he was in sophomore year," Evan says, grinning ferally, and glances to the one-way glass. 

Gavin's jaw clenches. RK's skin crawls.

"And you've stayed in contact with him since then?"

"Nah, the slimy bastard fucked off once we graduated high school, left in the middle of the night after me 'n' my family had taken care of him for nearly a year. Finally found him again a couple a months ago. Had to make him make up for all those years."

Hank's eyebrows draw together, and Gavin's leg is bouncing repetitively up and down, up and down, a nervous tick while he watches the interrogation with rapt attention. He's chewing his fingernail. RK's LED hasn't been blue since they stepped into the viewing room, and it's cycling so fast at his temple that he feels dizzy, thoughts racing. "Gavin lived with you for a year?"

Evan cocks an eyebrow. "What, he never told you? His mom died when he was 17. No mom, no dad, no family that wanted to take him in, so he had to come live at my place."

Gavin is avoiding all eye contact. His blood pressure and stress level has risen considerably, and RK is staring to grow concerned. His LED is red now.

"After his momma kicked the bucket I took him in out of the goodness of my damn heart, and he repaid me by running off after a year without a damn word."

"So six months ago you found him and started blackmailing him for money."

Evan smiles and says nothing. He's a slimy looking guy, and RK can't notice anything else right now. His greasy black hair, his sallow face, bruised under his eyes and on his nose, from where RK smashed his forehead into it. RK's mouth twitches up for a second at the memory, but his nose scrunches in disgust the longer he watches him.

Hank has no patience for him either. "Did you or did you not threaten Gavin into giving you money?"

"I didn't threaten Gavin." His voice is sweeter than it has any right to be. "Gavin's always been a softie. I don't have to threaten him. Nah." Evan's smile pulls his lip into a snarl instead, a nasty look on his face while he berates Gavin, turns his head to stare into the one-way glass. "I just threaten the few people he's got left in his life and he dances like he's my puppet."

Gavin stands suddenly, his chair scraping back, and he rushes out of the viewing room avoiding everyone's eyes. The red light of RK's LED follows him on the way out. Chris and Tina watch silently, Chris's mouth dropped open and Tina's lips pressed tight together. "Gavin–" RK starts, and the door slams shut. 

RK stands and follows him out in a second. "Gavin–"

"Fuck you," Gavin spits, whirling around to push his finger into RK's chest. And he stumbles. And his eyes are watery. His shoulder thunks into the wall beside them, and he crumples to the floor, chest heaving. 

_Elevated heart rate. Dizziness. Panting. Sense of doom or loss of control. Diagnosis: panic attack._

"It's okay," RK says, lowering the volume of his voice and crouching down, though he stays a few feet away from Gavin to give him some space. "Take some deep breaths, Gavin. You're safe."

"Shut up," Gavin wheezes, his head tilting back to rest against the wall. "Jus' shut the fuck up."

Gavin's breath is ragged. RK is silent, but his LED is still bright red, flickering between that and yellow, and he doesn't take his eyes off Gavin. 

"I never told anybody what happened to me before the DPD because I wanted to run from it," Gavin chokes out after nearly a minute of silence, his hands shaking. "And now it's come back to bite me in the ass. All because Evan wants to ruin my fucking life." Gavin is hyperventilating, practically vibrating. "No one's gonna look at me the same anymore."

"That's not true," RK says firmly. 

"No one is," Gavin persists, shivering uncontrollably, and his breath catches in his throat as he starts to panic. "Oh– oh, god."

"Gavin," RK says, and he tilts forward onto his knees from the balls of his feet and grabs Gavin's bicep tightly, pulling him closer. Gavin's eyes flash over to him, wide and panicked with his eyebrows drawn tight together, and RK can't stop himself from yanking Gavin into his arms and pulling him tight to his chest. He shudders and shakes in RK's arms, and RK doesn't realize for a moment that he's clutching him, rocking Gavin back and forth, muttering to him. "You're okay. It's going to be okay. Everything is okay."

They sit there until Gavin's breathing normally and he pushes RK away. RK is more nervous than Gavin at that point, LED red and eyes trained on Gavin. 

"Sorry for freaking out on you," he mutters.

"It's a lot to process," RK says in response, dragging his eyes away to stare at a blank spot on the wall. "So you went to college when you left?" RK remembered Gavin mentioning that.

"Yeah." 

They sit quietly for a few moments. "What did you study?"

Gavin glances at him out of the side of his eye. "Criminal Justice. As Pre-Law. Believe it or not." He rubs at his chest absentmindedly, and RK reaches out to grab his hand. He stutters last moment, realizing what he's about to do, and ends up just setting his hand on top of Gavin's. His knuckles are rough and one is split, scabbed over. "Dropped out after two years though, joined the police academy."

RK closes his hand over Gavin's and presses against him shoulder to shoulder. "You like to get your hands dirty better than research old statutes, huh?"

Gavin is smiling. "Guess I do." He sniffs. "We should probably, uh. Get back into the viewing room. Watch the interrogation."

"We don't have to."

Gavin taps his thumb against RK's hand twice, then plants his palms on the ground and lifts himself to his feet. "C'mon, RK. I'll be okay this time. I'm okay."

The rest of the interrogation is uneventful. Evan admits to most of his crimes, with an odd smile on his face; almost as though he doesn't care that he's been caught. It puts RK on edge, but there's nothing he or anyone else can prove with just a gut feeling. So Evan Moore goes to his cell, Gavin returns to his desk, and RK brings him a mug of coffee, and receives a wordless thank you. When it's time to go home, they both hesitate.

They watch Hank gather his things, tug on his coat, and leave with an arm around Connor, who is decked out in a fuzzy coat and a beanie that he surely doesn't need, but has on anyway.

"Come home with me again," RK says.

It had been… nice, to spend the night before with Gavin. To feel like he was keeping him safe, to hang out with him, to have someone to spend the night with. RK never understood that part of humans, of the want to share the bed with someone. It had always seemed pointless to him. Sleep was a boring necessity to humans, he thought, and doing it together seemed worthless. But watching Gavin sleep, his eyelashes fluttering, warm body pressed so close to his….

Well. He already said it was nice.

Gavin looks up at him. _39% chance Gavin will protest._

But he nods ever so slightly. "I don't want to go to my apartment anyway."

RK blinks. And smiles uncontrollably. "Good."

When they get home, Gavin sheds his leather jacket like a second skin, and nestles himself into RK's couch once he drapes it over the back. RK watches from the doorway for a moment, then shuts the door carefully.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Gavin asks, resting his head on his his palm. "I've been nothing but rude to you for so long. Then you're at my apartment, trying to protect me and inviting me over to your house, and.... sharing the couch with me." He shakes his head. RK sits gingerly on the cushion next to him.

"Because…" Gavin shifts so he's turned to face RK, their shoulders brushing together again like back in the hall. RK swallows, drops his eyes to Gavin's lips for just a moment. "Because you needed me. And I…" RK shakes his head and shrugs. "I don't know. Something happened."

Gavin flicks his eyes over RK's face, then focuses back on his eyes. He sets a hand absently on the center of RK's chest, fingers stroking at the smooth material. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Hm?"

A couple of Gavin's fingers slide between the buttons of his shirt, petting at his smooth chest like he doesn't even realize he's doing it. His fingertips feel calloused against RK's skin. RK feels a little _flushed_. "When did you deviate?"

RK swallows. "I didn't, really. Cyberlife didn't release my model before the revolution, since I was the prototype designed to replace Connor. So when Cyberlife collapsed as a company, and Markus demanded the release of all androids in their facilities, they found me." RK smiles a little. "The only memories I have from before Connor woke me are of standing complacently. I was no one. I had no orders to deviate from."

"Well, you weren't standing there because no one asked you to."

RK can't help but laugh, a little surprised, and glances down at Gavin. He's leaned in a little closer. "You… I can't believe you." RK glances down at Gavin's hand, still tucked into his shirt. "No human has ever treated me the way you do."

He looks back to Gavin. Gavin hasn't looked away from him. He just stares, and stares, admires RK's face, and then Gavin tilts his head up, and slots their lips together without a word. RK gasps, eyebrows pulling tight together, and closes a hand over Gavin's forearm. "Gavin," he breathes, hesitating for a moment, then presses Gavin tightly to him and kisses him with all he has.

Gavin sits up, presses his mouth up into RK's harder. He's panting already, making these sweet, quiet little noises of pleasure. RK shivers and squeezes Gavin's hip tight enough to bruise. He can't stop himself. The feeling of Gavin against him, underneath his fingers, lips pressed to his… it's intoxicating. He wants this all the time. He wants to know that Gavin is safe, wants to feel his heart beat beneath his palm while they share the couch, wants to feel the measured movement of his chest up and down as he breathes sleeping breaths. 

"Move in with me," RK blurts, out of nowhere.

Gavin pulls back, pupils dilated thirteen percent larger than usual. "What?" he asks, sounding almost amazed. Incredulous. RK shakes his head, silently begging Gavin to hear him out.

"Move in with me," he repeats, pressing his forehead to Gavin's. "I've never felt more at home than… than last night. Than when I slept here with you. And with your apartment, and everything that's happened, just… move in with me," he whispers. "I'll buy a bed," he promises, laughing despite himself.

Gavin laughs, too, confusion and thickly veiled joy hidden inside the sound. "You want me to move in?"

RK smiles, his lips twitching. "Very much."

Gavin opens his mouth, then shuts it. He lurches forward to kiss RK again, nodding his head. "Okay."

RK slides a hand into Gavin's hair, cradling the back of his head. His breath comes out in a huff, clutching to Gavin, and grins brightly into their kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you guys liked this!! i'm kind of unsure about it, but it's the longest thing i've written in like a year so i figured i better post it. 
> 
> i didn't really get a chance to mention it in the fic, but elijah and gavin are half-brothers. eli and gavin grew up seeing each other only sometimes and probably haven't seen each other in twenty years. when his mom died, gavin didn't turn to elijah because he didn't want to rely on him or be a burden or whatever. you know our poor dear gavin and his ways.
> 
> please kudos and/or comment if you liked!! i love hearing from y'all!!!
> 
> EDIT: yes, they will be moving into a new apartment with a bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen, and not staying at the android apartment. your concern for gavin is admirable, my friends.


End file.
